BOSTON (Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) – Beginning on Friday evening, Jan. 18, construction crews will implement a traffic split on I-95 (Route 128) southbound to allow for continued bridge construction over the Charles River at the Needham-Dedham town line.

Traffic heading south on I-95 will be split beginning in the area approaching Great Plain Avenue (Exit 18) with the two left lanes shifting to the east (to the driver’s left) and the right lane and breakdown lane shifting to the west (to the driver’s right). After traveling through the work area associated with the bridge construction, the southbound travel lanes will be shifted again to return to their original configuration in the area near Route 135 (Exit 17).

Crews will be arriving on site at approximately 7 p.m. to begin implementing the traffic split. Drivers should expect traffic impacts shortly after that time. The work will last until noon on Saturday when the traffic split will be complete. For the duration of the work to implement the split, Exit 18 and Exit 17 on I-95 South will be closed; vehicles will be detoured to Exit 16A (Route 109), and back to I-95 North for the two exits. Upon implementation, the two exits will reopen.

Once the split is in place, drivers destined to either Exit 18 for Great Plain Avenue and West Roxbury or Exit 17 for Route 135, Needham and Natick, must stay to the right when approaching the lane split as those exits will only be accessible from the right.

Travel in the breakdown lane in this area remains restricted to weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Drivers should reduce speed and use extreme caution when traveling through the new configuration.

The traffic split is necessary to reconstruct a portion of the bridges that carry I-95 South over the Charles River. The bridges on I-95 North and South are being reconstructed and widened to accommodate a fourth travel lane as part of the “Add-A-Lane” project.

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